Take a break
robinrendle.com
Take a break
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Re: Take a break
#2It is more difficult to build the habits that’d allow for a smoother, less peak and valley ridden life, so we succumb to cycles of burnout and super charged recovery.
Re: Take a break
#3It is more difficult to build the habits that’d allow for a smoother, less peak and valley ridden life, so we succumb to cycles of burnout and super charged recovery.
> less peak and valley ridden life
"Whence come the highest mountains? I once asked. Then I learned that they came out of the sea. The evidence is written in their rocks and in the walls of their peaks. It is out of the deepest depth that the highest must come to its height."
Re: Take a break
#4Wow, he is exactly like me.
There is so much sense in the traditional (in various forms in various cultures, but always there) yearly cycle of holidays, periods between holidays, periods of waiting for holidays, and we suffer from having largely disconnected from it.
Re: Take a break
#5I wish employers would see that their employees need to take a break, especially in this type of work where a lot of us really enjoy creating things... At my previous job I didn't even dare asking for vacation
Re: Take a break
#6There’s an idea for a new Dummies book, if no one’s already written it.
Re: Take a break
#730 years in the workforce
2 years starting a new startup
5 years after it was acquired
Total burnout...
I resigned and am 10 months into a break, it's the best thing I've ever done!
Re: Take a break
#8May I suggest a purely rational, evidence based take?
The trap is your belief in a linear relationship between effort and outcome. Working harder and longer produces more productivity, right?
That's false.
As you say so yourself, your memory goes to shit. It's not just a law of diminishing returns. For coders, past a certain point, exhaustion leads you to start undoing your work. You are into negative productivity.
I've pushed through all-nighters where I poured out a few thousand LOC only to find the next day that I had broken everything and introduced more bugs than I had time to fix. I just had to revert. An exhausted hacker is worse than no hacker at all. You're a liability to yourself and the project.
So, like driving when tired, realise that the urge to continue is completely irrational, and probably based in the emotional drives of fear or pride. It would be completely irrational for any manager to want you to code in that state, and anyone who pushes you to is also the idiot.
Re: Take a break
#930 years in the workforce 2 years starting a new startup 5 years after it was acquired Total burnout... I resigned and am 10 months into a break, it's the best thing I've ever done!
Twenty years, two months into the second burn out on top of long term depression.
I'm going bankrupt for a second time because I can't work 100% anymore.
I'm yet to find a psychiatrist. Wish I could have a break sometimes.
Re: Take a break
#1030 years in the workforce 2 years starting a new startup 5 years after it was acquired Total burnout... I resigned and am 10 months into a break, it's the best thing I've ever done!
Good to hear you are back on track. I can relate.
Hard workers will always think “But I can’t stop now!” , “Everything will go to shit if I stop working.” , and these kinds of thoughts like there is some force that keeps you from taking breaks. The only who is keeping you, is often yourself. Start learning to say no to bosses and your own magnum opus project and stand up for some basic stuff like recharging in good order.
Get your weekends in, get social / offline again, tune into the analog is my motto these days.